Reading music and elitism

[Febs]

Well I hope you feel better now.

Seriously though, how many times does someone drop some sheet music in front of you and pay you to play the line as written?

Not being argumentative. I realize it's beneficial. I'm genuinely curious.

For me, it can be 100+ times per year.

 

[smeet]

I'm a decent reader. I DID go to Berklee (although it was only about $5000 a year when I went). But I learned to read music in public school when I was a kid, not at music school. It's easier than reading English, for sure.

I got a call a couple of days ago for a job playing pop/rock stuff, reading required. I couldn't take it because of schedule conflicts, but the guy said he had lots of bass players in his rolodex but couldn't use any of them because they couldn't read. The reading was probably simple, but they missed out on the gig just because they couldn't read.

One other thing that may not have been mentioned. If you want acess to the best practice materials, you should learn to read. Then you have access to several hundred years' worth of written music and exercises.

 

[TC2112]

I know how to read the staff, and am pretty good (although pretty rusty) at sight reading at tempo, but where I always struggle is with the key signatures and knowing where to apply sharps and flats. So at that point I just have to read the chord notation (hopefully it's there) and know my scales. I can get away with that playing rock, or country, or even a piano bar type standards gig, but I know I could never get a serious gig with my reading skills.

But - Thank you Jimmy, because now I am motivated to work on my reading again.


Edit - Plus, what's wrong with wanting to be elite? If everybody worked toward being elite at what they do, we would all be in a much better place. These times of everybody getting a participation trophy isn't doing us any good.

 

[JimmyM]

These times of everybody getting a participation trophy isn't doing us any good.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! That's pretty funny. Fortunately, the marketplace has a really funny way of making that quite apparent once you're out on your own, and not just in music. Rocks some kids' worlds, but that's OK.

 

[BassyBill]

Plus, what's wrong with wanting to be elite? If everybody worked toward being elite at what they do, we would all be in a much better place.

Sam Harris wrote an excellent piece about anti-elitism a while back when Sarah Palin was in the public eye a lot. A quick Google of those two names will find it.

 

[thepontif]

Hey Jimmy, I just stumbled onto this. But I wanted to say, I totally agree with your original post. Virtually anyone, barring those with transposition disorders like dyslexia or the like, can learn to read music, and probably with about a tenth the intervention from an instructor than they think. The notes go up, the pitch goes up. Every additional bar or flag halves the length of the note. Once someone shows you a song that you know by ear in written form, you can deduce most of what you need to know. If you want to be able to communicate with the mainstream in music, you need to be able to read...just alike any other aspect of life.
It takes time, and you have to practice...and you lose it if you don't use it. People love to flap their gums about music, but you find out what they really know when they have an instrument in their hands, and 99 times out of 100, when someone plays their butt off, they can read at least a little. Even if they say they can't.

I don't have much sympathy for people who don't want to put a lot of time into being good at music. If it's a hobby, ok, but don't expect to play like John Patitucci...or read like him, and there are few who read like him. Maybe tab should be for hobbyists. I know, I have NEVER in my life been in a professional setting anywhere, where they handed me a tab chart to play. Though I hear in Nashville they have a little different way of notating things.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Tabs are fine for some things because you can show where to play the pattern and in what strings. But if you take the instrument seriously you really need to learn to read music.

 

[JimmyM]

Thx for your input, Mike. I'm not in that loop either, but I have been occasionally, though it's been a good 10 years since I did a country gig. So it might have changed a little, but really, the Nashville system keeps all the same basic conventions of chord charts except they use scale degree numbers instead of letters so they can transpose on the fly easier when needed. I don't know if they've adapted the Nashville system to writing melodies yet, but I've only ever seen chord charts in Nashville numbering.

 

[Roy Vogt]

I've seen licks, bass figures, even a pseudo-Classical CCM musical that looked like an Algebra equation. Truth be told by the time I decoded all of that I was wondering why they didn't just write a real bass part!

 

[TC2112]

Sam Harris wrote an excellent piece about anti-elitism a while back when Sarah Palin was in the public eye a lot. A quick Google of those two names will find it.

I read the piece, and am somewhat unimpressed by it. I'm not looking to get into a political debate, so I won't say anything else about it; however, regarding this conversation, I still see nothing wrong with striving to be considered a peer in a group that is considered among the best at what they do.

 

[coyote1]

When I have music to be played, I hand out lead sheets and chord charts. If I have to provide recordings or tab, what do I need those 'players' for exactly??

Is that elitist?? I don't care whether people think that or not. If they can't read real music, I have no use for them.

I saw a comment in the new BP today that just angered the living crap out of me. They asked a poll question: "Should we do away with TAB in our transcriptions?" To which one halfwit replied:

"Losing the TAB would make the magazine way too elitist."

Another joker replied:

"Not all of us had mommies and daddies who could pay for music classes."

Really? You really think it's about money and elitism? Yeah, you're right...I learned out of a book that cost $5 in addition to joining the middle school band. My wife, who had no previous musical skills, wanted to learn the piano a few years ago. I bought her a piano for Christmas and a $15 piano method book. She worked through the book herself and taught herself how to read. Real big money there, eh?

So stop with this nonsense about reading music being elitist. I'm sick of it, and it's just a lame excuse for not wanting to put in the work. You never see anyone who can read music talking about how much it costs or how elite they are, do you? Nope, only the whiners who resent people for working for it.

That's what it boils down to...not wanting to put in the work. It ain't brain surgery, folks.

 

[JimmyM]

I've seen licks, bass figures, even a pseudo-Classical CCM musical that looked like an Algebra equation. Truth be told by the time I decoded all of that I was wondering why they didn't just write a real bass part!

So it's more of a seat-of-the-pants non-standard thing when it comes to writing out melodies in Nashville numbering, eh? Scary. Works really well for straight up chord charts, but I was totally thinking it would be a charlie foxtrot for melodies, and I was apparently right.

 

[nutdog]

So it's more of a seat-of-the-pants non-standard thing when it comes to writing out melodies in Nashville numbering, eh? Scary. Works really well for straight up chord charts, but I was totally thinking it would be a charlie foxtrot for melodies, and I was apparently right.

Maybe that's why all the songs sound the same.

 

[JimmyM]

Maybe that's why all the songs sound the same.

LOL! Good guess, but no, it's all the pinheads behind the scenes who know nothing about music making sure that nothing sounds different from the previous month's hits.

 

[Lo-E]

You've inspired me. Now do any of you elitists feel like lending a hand. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f22/request-music-readers-879528/

I'd also like to contribute something here again. Haven't been reading every post, so oops on me something like this has been said already. Regarding the elitest comment, and the idea of being fortunate enough to have rich parents... while I don't completely agree with what that person said, I think I understand where he's coming from. People who don't read are at a clear disadvantage. Agreed, a handful of those people are just plain lazy, but others (myself included) didn't start playing bass with learning to read, and have indeed put hours and hours of work into learning our craft. Sometimes more than the avid reader, as we have a different set of hurdles we have to jump in order to achieve any level of success with the instrument. While I don't minmimize or discount the effort that goes into reading, I feel a great deal of readers were fortunate enough to either have supportive parents who pushed them to learn the "proper" way from the beginning, or some way or another just realized themselves that this was the way to start. Having learned early on IMO is a gift. A huge gift. It just becomes part of what you do. Learning to read 10 or 20 years into your career, when all your bass playing time is going towards learning material, gigging, writing, recording. etc. (and you can already play things you'll likely never be able to read or understand ) is a more than daunting and frustrating task. I'm not an idiot, and I consider myself a better than average player who's landed some better than decent gigs, but I struggle with learning music. And I'm sometimes, often, envious of those who can.

I think it might serve other well to be understanding, and perhaps supportive of those who can't read, as opposed to hit them over the head with a stick. Readers have a skill that I believe they should be greatful for. I know it doesn't come easy to anyone, but it comes a whole lot harder to some than I think people understand.

And yes, I know there are the people who pick a book up to read at age 50 and learn in a month, but that's not my story. And it's not the story of many.

Hittin the books again bigtime today. A reminder for anyone who'd like to help http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f22/request-music-readers-879528/ .

Joe, this is a really great post.

The part where you mention the the difficulty in balancing learning material, rehearsing, gigging, recording... and how it makes it difficult to also find the time and the energy to keep one's skills up really hit home for me.

I learned to read 20 years ago and, while I can still read the dots and tell you what they are, my sight-reading skills have all but evaporated. As you pointed out, learning to read early definitely gave me an edge, and even now, the foundation that helped build has made it easier for me to learn other things, but the realities of being an adult person with adult responsibilites - and a more than full-time job - and several active bands - and a marriage I'd like to preserve... it can get very daunting indeed.

The result has been, in my case, that my routine maintenance dropped off years ago. I seldom practice anymore, I hardly ever read music and even though I'm gigging as much as ever - if not more than ever - I feel like my chops have gotten worse, as well as my grasp of theory and my reading skills. There are only so many hours in a day.

Like you, I have plans to start studying again this summer. My upright is going in for repairs and afterward I plan to spend the summer taking lessons for the first time in many years. Hopefully I can back-fill the erosion that's taken place on my skills and maybe even move forward a bit.

Knowing you're putting your nose against the same grindstone will make it a little easier for me. Let's have at it!

 

[Roy Vogt]

Maybe that's why all the songs sound the same.

I ain't sayin' nuthin'!

 

[JimmyM]

Come on, Roy...call your future employers pinheads with me!

 

[onlyclave]

BP has been BS for years. I don't really care what they have to say.

 

[ahdowns]

If I spent as much time studying my Hal Leonard Bass Method by Ed Friedland, as I spent reading talk bass, I'd probably be able to read music by now! LOL

 

[thepontif]

It takes 15 minutes of reading a day to keep your reading chops reasonably fluent once you know how to do it.

It's fluid...it comes and goes depending on how much you use it. It's NOT like once your chops slip a little, you have to go back to square 1 to get it back. Not even close.